1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and an information processing method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Along with the widespread use of digital cameras with a GPS function and mobile phones with a camera function and a GPS function, there has been increased in the number of imaging apparatuses that record, in a photographed image, position information about the spot where the image was photographed. A computer can display images, each having the position information, arranged on a map. Further, a user can modify position information of an image and add position information to an image in which no position information is recorded.
One method for recording position information as attribute information of an image file is the Exif standard. The Exif standard defines a method for recording, in an image file, position information and related information, such as information on the positioning method (e.g., GPS or wireless LAN access points) and positioning error. In addition, a technique is known that corrects position information on the basis of a recorded positioning error (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-42132). Meanwhile, a technique is also known in which a user modifies position information added to an image file to any position information with the use of a personal computer (PC) or the like.
In the case where position information of an image file in which a positioning method is recorded is modified by a user operation or the like, it becomes a problem how to handle the originally recorded positioning method. There is one way of thinking that the position information after the modification is information arbitrarily determined by a user and not information determined in accordance with the originally recorded positioning method. On the other hand, there is another way of thinking that, because a user knows the position information before the modification, the position information after the modification is not always determined independently of the position information before the modification, and thus is affected by the originally recorded positioning method to some extent.
However, there has conventionally been no method for appropriately processing an originally recorded positioning method in the case where position information recorded in an image file is modified by a user operation or the like. This problem can occur not only in the case where position information recorded in an image file is modified but also in various cases, provided that the position information and the positioning method are associated with each other.